Federal authorities say they’ve busted the leaders of an international heroin ring that targeted the mid-Atlantic region by smuggling drugs through Washington Dulles International Airport. Eight people — two from Alexandria, two from Maryland and four from Ghana — are charged in the case, the ringleaders of an organization that used human couriers to bring suitcases lined with drugs to the D.C. region, prosecutors said.
International drug rings “pose a sustained, serious threat,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride. “We must confront them head-on.”
The ring paid couriers up to $15,000 to transport the heroin, according to officials and court records. An indictment filed in federal court in Alexandria describes three trips couriers made from Ghana to Dulles; officials said they are investigating whether there are more cases.
The couriers were transporting up to $250,000 in heroin at a time, MacBride said.
Authorities said they didn’t know the total amount of drugs the ring brought to the United States, but said it had been operating for about a year and could transport large volumes. Court records say at least one member was skilled at concealing drugs in suitcases’ lining.
“This clearly was an organization with the ability to move a significant amount of heroin,” MacBride said.
Officials said Ghanians who live in this area were recruited to be couriers. Two of the alleged couriers, 29-year-old Matilda Antwi and 26-year-old Yvonne Owusu, both of Alexandria, have been charged in the case.
Two Maryland men — 35-year-old Theophilus Akwei, of Germantown, and 54-year-old Joseph Duodo, of Greenbelt, are accused of receiving the smuggled heroin from couriers.
Prosecutors allege that 61-year-old Edward Macauley, of Ghana, is the leader of the scheme. He and three other Ghana residents have been charged. Ava Cooper-Davis, a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent, said U.S. investigators worked with Ghanaian authorities in the case and the men will be extradited to the United States to face charges.
Those arrested in Maryland and Virginia entered the country legally, said John Torres, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent.
Targeting the drug conspiracy’s leaders in Ghana prevents the heroin from ever reaching the United States, MacBride said.
The alleged drug ring members have been charged with conspiracy to import heroin and other related offenses. They face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted and could get up to life in prison.
